Broad overviews are found in Kurt Aland, A History of Christianity, 2 vol. (1985–86; originally published in German, 1980–82); Roland H. Bainton, The Horizon History of Christianity (1964, reissued with the title Christianity, 1985); Geoffrey Barraclough (ed.), The Christian World: A Social and Cultural History (1981); Owen Chadwick, The Pelican History of the Church, 6 vol. (1960–70, reprinted 1985–86); Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity (1976, reprinted 1985); Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity, rev. ed., 2 vol. (1975); Henry Chadwick and G.R. Evans (edsand John McManners (ed.), Atlas of the Christian Church (1987); and F. van der Meer and Christine Mohrmann, Atlas of the Early Christian World, trans. from Dutch (1958, reprinted 1966). See also the series edited by Hubert Jedin and John Dolan, Handbook of Church History, 10 vol. (1965–81; originally published in German, 7 vol. in 10, 1962–79), later vol. of which have the title History of the Church.The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (1990, reissued 2001).

Guides to the first five centuries of the Christian Church include Louis Duchesne, Early History of the Christian Church: From Its Foundation to the End of the Fifth Century, trans. from French, 3 vol. (1909–24, reprinted 1957–60); W.H.C. Frend, The Rise of Christianity (1984, reprinted 1986); Robert M. Grant, Augustus to Constantine: The Thrust of the Christian Movement into the Roman World (1970, reissued 2004); Rowan A. Greer, Broken Lights and Mended Lives: Theology and Common Life in the Early Church (1986); Adolf Harnack, The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, 2nd enltrans. from the German and rev. ed. by James Moffat, 2 vol. (1908; originally published in German, 1902); Hans Lietzmann, A History of the Early Church, 4 vol. (1949–52, reissued 4 vol. in 2, 1964; originally published in German, 4 vol., 1932–44); A.D. Nock, Conversion: The Old and the New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo (1933, reprinted 1988); and A.D. Nock (ed.), Essays on Religion and the Ancient World, ed. and comp. by Zeph Stewart, 2 vol. (1972, reprinted 1986). See also J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Frankish Church (1983).For discussions of more specialized topics, see Cecil John Cadoux, The Early Church and the World: A History of the Christian Attitude to Pagan Society and the State Down to the Time of Constantine (1925, reprinted 1955); 1904, reprinted 1998; also published as The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, 1908, reissued 1972).

Discussions of special topics are presented in Henry Chadwick, Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition: Studies in Justin, Clement, and Origen (1966, reprinted 1984); Francis Dvornik, Early Christian and Byzantine Political Philosophy: Origins and Background, 2 vol. (1966); Robert M. Grant, Early Christianity and Society (1977); Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (1986, reissued 1988reprinted 1995); Wayne A. Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul(1983); Arnaldo Momigliano, The Conflict Between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century (1963, reprinted 1970); Peter Richardson, Israel in the Apostolic Church (1969); , 2nd ed. (2003); and J.M. Hussey, The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire (1986, reissued 1990).

In addition to the relevant volumes of the histories cited above, the church in the Middle Ages and the Reformation is studied in Hans-Georg Beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich (1959, reprinted 1977treated in Peter R.L. Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, AD 200–1000, 2nd ed. (2003); John Bossy, Christianity in the West, 1400–1700 (1985); Louis Duchesne, L’Église au VIe siècle (1925); Judith Herrin, The Formation of Christendom (1987); and Joseph H. Lynch, The Medieval Church: A Brief History (1995); Diarmaid MacCullough, The Reformation: A History (2004); Steven Ozment, The Age of Reform (1250–1550): An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe (1980); and J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Frankish Church (1983).

Modern church history is treated covered in the general histories cited above; in the works cited in the sections below on roles of Christianity, on Christian missions , and on ecumenism; and in Kenneth Scott Latourette, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 5 vol. (1958–62, reissued 1973); James Hastings Nichols, History of Christianity, 1650–1950: Secularization of the West (1956); Jerald C. Brauer, Protestantism in America: A Narrative History, rev. ed. (1965, reprinted 1974); and Charles H. Lippy and Peter W. Williams (eds.), Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience: Studies of Traditions and Movements, 3 vol. (1988and Glen T. Miller, The Modern Church: From the Dawn of the Reformation to the Eve of the Third Millennium (1997).

Christian doctrine

The meaning of dogma

Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, 4 trans. G.W. Bromiley, 5 vol. in 12 (1939–59(1961, reissued 2004; originally published in German, 4 vol. in 12, 1932–59); Emil Brunner, Dogmatics, vol. 3, The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith, and the Consummation (1960, reissued in a new trans., 1979; originally published in German, 1960); Yves M.J. Congar, A History of Theology, trans. from French by Hunter Guthrie(1968); T.A. Burkill, The Evolution of Christian Thought (1971); Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, 6 vols. (1971– 2002); Paul Tillich, A History of Christian Thought, from Its Judaic and Hellenistic Origins to Existentialism (1972); J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, 5th rev. ed. (1977, reprinted 1985); Hubert Cunliffe-Jones (ed.), A History of Christian Doctrine (1978, reissued 1980); and Walter Kasper, An Introduction to Christian Faith (1980; originally published in German, 1972).

God the Father

W.R. Matthews, God in Christian Thought and Experience, 3rd ed. (1963); H.P. Owen, Concepts of Deity (1971); Gordon D. Kaufman, The Theological Imagination: Constructing the Concept of God (1981); and and Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (1991–98), are important introductions to the history of doctrine and major doctrinal issues by prominent Protestant and Roman Catholic historians and theologians.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ, trans by Matthew J. O’Connell(1984, reprinted 1986reissued 1989; originally published in German, 1982).

God the Son

Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of Its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede, trans. by W. Montgomery et al., 3rd ed. (1954, reissued 19812001; originally published in German, 1906); Günther Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth (1960, reprinted 1975; originally published in German, 1956); and Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ, the Sacrament of the Encounter with God, trans. by Paul Barrett(1963, reprinted 1977; originally published in Dutch, 1960); Frederick Houk Borsch, The Son of Man in Myth and History (1967); Edward Rochie Hardy (ed. ), Christology of the Later Fathers (1954, reprinted 1977); John Reumann, Jesus in the Church’s Gospels: Modern Scholarship and the Earliest Sources (1968, reprinted 1973); and Aloys Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition, vol. 1, From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451), trans. from German, 2nd rev. ed. (1975).

God the Holy Spirit

Charles Williams, The Descent of the Dove: A Short History of the Holy Spirit in the Church (1939, reissued 1974); Henry P. Van Dusen, Spirit, Son and Father: Christian Faith in the Light of the Holy Spirit (1958, reissued 1960); Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentacostal Experience and the New Testament Witness (1970, reprinted 1973); George T. Montague, The Holy Spirit: Growth of a Biblical Tradition (1976); Karl Rahner, The Spirit in the Church (1979; originally published in German, 1977); Yves M.J. Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, trans. by David Smith, 3 vol. (1983, reissued 1997; originally published in French, 1979–80); and Alasdair I. C. Heron, The Holy Spirit (1983).

The Holy Trinity

Jules Lebreton, History of the Dogma of the Trinity: From Its Origins to the Council of Nicaea (1939; originally published in French, 8th ed., 1927); Karl Rahner, The Trinity, trans. from German by Joseph Donceel(1970); Edmund J. Fortman, The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity (1972); Robert W. Jenson, The Triune Identity: God According to the Gospel (1982, reissued 1997; originally published in German); and Michael O’Carroll, Trinitas: A Theological Encyclopedia of the Holy Trinity (1987).

The doctrine of man

Emil Brunner, Man in Revolt: A Christian Anthropology (1939, reissued 1957; originally published in German, 1937); , are useful introductions to the contemporary understanding of the persons of the Trinity.

Works on various aspects of church doctrine include, on the church, George Johnston, The Doctrine of the Church in the New Testament (1943); Hans Küng, The Church (1967, reissued 1976; originally published in German, 1967); Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sanctorum Communio: Eine dogmatische Untersuchung zur Soziologie der Kirche, 4th ed. (1969); and Einar Molland, Christendom: The Christian Churches, Their Doctrines, Constitutional Forms, and Ways of Worship (1971); on the formation of the biblical canon, Hans Von Campenhausen, The Formation of the Christian Bible (1972, reissued 1977; originally published in German, 1968); Harry Y. Gamble, The New Testament Canon: Its Making and Meaning (1985); and Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (1987, reissued 1997); on Christian creeds and confessions, Philip Schaff, Biblioteca symbolica ecclesiae universalis: The Creeds of Christendom, 6th ed., 3 vol. (1919, reprinted 1985reissued 1977); B.A. Gerrish (ed.), The Faith of Christendom: A Source Book of Creeds and Confessions (1963); J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, 3rd ed. (1972, reprinted 1981), and a companion volume, The Athanasian Creed (1964); and John H. Leith (ed.), Creeds of the Churches: A Reader in Christian Doctrine, from the Bible to the Present, 3rd ed. (1982); on the apostolic succession, Ernst Benz, Bischofsamt und apostolische Sukzession im deutschen Protestantismus (1953); on church polity and structure, James Vernon Bartlet, Church-Life and Church-Order During the First Four Centuries (1943); on the liturgy, Josef A. Jungmann, The Early Liturgy, to the Time of Gregory the Great, trans. from German (1959); Theodor Klauser, A Short History of the Western Liturgy: An Account and Some Reflections, 2nd ed. (1979; originally published in German, 1965); and Jaroslav Pelikan and Valerie R. Hotchkiss, Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition, 4 vols. (2003); on the liturgy, Frank C. Senn, Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical (1997); and James F. White, Introduction to Christian Worship(1980); and Herman A.J. Wegman, Christian Worship in East and West: A Study Guide to Liturgical History (1985; originally published in Dutch, 1976); on Christian tradition, Daniel T. Jenkins, Tradition, Freedom, and the Spirit (U.K. title, Tradition and the Spirit, 1951); and F.W. Dillistone (ed.), Scripture and Tradition (1955); on monasticism, Cuthbert Butler, Benedictine Monachism: Studies in Benedictine Life and Rule, 2nd ed. (1924, reprinted 1962); , 3rd ed. rev. and expanded (2000); on monasticism, David Knowles, Christian Monasticism (1969, reissued 1977); and Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture, trans. by Catharine Misrahi, 3rd ed. (1982, reissued 2000; originally published in French 1957); and on Christian art and iconography, Emile Mâle, Religious Art from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century (1949, reissued 19701982; originally published in French, 1945); John G. Davies, The Origin and Development of Early Christian Church Architecture (1952); Jane Dillenberger, Style and Content in Christian Art (1965, reissued 1986); Leonid Ouspensky and Vladimir Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, trans. by G.E.H. Palmer, 2nd ed. (1982; originally published in German, 1952); and Robert Milburn, Early Christian Art and Architecture (19871988).

Last thingsPaul S. Minear, Christian Hope and the Second Coming (1954); Eschatology

The history and nature of Christian eschatology is examined in Rudolf Bultmann, History and Eschatology (U.S. title, 1957; also published as The Presence of Eternity, 1957, reissued 1975); Oscar Cullmann, Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History, rev. ed. (1962, reprinted 1964; originally published in German, 1946: History and Eschatology, 1975); Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope: On the Ground and the Implications of a Christian Eschatology (1967, reprinted 1975reissued 1993; originally published in German, 1964), and Hope and Planning, trans. from German (1971); William Strawson, Jesus and the Future Life, new and rev. ed. (1970); and Geoffrey Wainwright, Eucharist and Eschatology, 2nd ed. (1978, reprinted 1981).

Christian philosophy On the early period, Claude Tresmontant, The Origins of Christian Philosophy (1962; originally published in French, 1962); A.H. Armstrong and R.A. Markus, Christian Faith and Greek Philosophy (1960, reissued 1964); and Adam Fox (ed. and trans.), Plato and the Christians (1957), cover the Hebraic and Greek sources of Christian thought

; and Frederic J. Baumgartener, Longing for the End: A History of Millennialism in Western Civilization (1999; reissued 2001).

Christian philosophy

Introductions to the early period include Christopher Stead, Philosophy in Christian Antiquity (1994); and Robert Louis Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought (2003). The classic works on the medieval period are Étienne Gilson, The Spirit of Mediaeval Philosophy (1936; originally published in French, 2 vol., 1932), Reason and Revelation in the Middle Ages (1938, reprinted 1966), and History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages (1955, reissued 1980). See also Philippe Delhaye, Medieval Christian Philosophy (1960; originally published in French, 1959). J.V. Langmead Casserley, The Christian in Philosophy (1949, reissued 1955); and George F. Thomas, Religious Philosophies of the West (1965), and Philosophy and Religious Belief (1970), provide broad surveys up to the contemporary period. For existentialism, see David E. Roberts, Existentialism and Religious Belief (1957). Much of the contemporary discussion takes place in articles, such as those collected in Basil Mitchell (ed.), The Philosophy of Religion (1971, reprinted 1978), all of whose contributors are Christian philosophers grappling with current issues. Also useful are Stuart C. Brown (ed.), Reason and Religion (1977); Richard Swinburne, The Existence of God (1979); Modern developments are treated in James C. Livingston, Modern Christian Thought, 2 vols., 2nd ed. (1997–2000). Christian existentialism is addressed in George Pattison, Anxious Angels: A Retrospective View of Religious Existentialism (1999). Also useful is Hans Küng, Does God Exist?: An Answer for Today, trans. by Edward Quinn(1980, reprinted 1991; originally published in German, 1978); Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff (eds.), Faith and Rationality: Reason and Belief in God (1983); and Leroy S. Rouner (ed.), Religious Pluralism (1984). Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers (quarterly) is another forum of contemporary discussion.

: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man’s Spiritual Consciousness (1911, reissued 1977); R.C. Zaehner, Mysticism, Sacred and Profane: An Inquiry Into Some Varieties of Praeter-Natural Experience (1957, reissued 1980); Sidney Spencer, Mysticism in World Religion (1963, reissued 1971); and Andrew Louth, The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition from Plato to Denys (1981, reprinted 1983). A good anthology is that of Elmer O’Brien, Varieties of Mystic Experience (1964). Many of the texts of the great Christian mystics have been published in new translations in “The The Classics of Western Spirituality” Spirituality series (1978– ). Bernard McGinn, Presence of God: A History of Western Mysticism, 2 vol. (1991–95), is a good introduction. Helpful for the serious student are the classic works of William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (1902, reissued 19851977); Friedrich von Hügel, The Mystical Element of Religion: As Studied in Saint Catherine of Genoa and Her Friends, 2 vol. (1908, reprinted 1961); Cuthbert Butler, Western Mysticism: The Teaching of SS Augustine, Gregory, and Bernard on Contemplation and the Contemplative Life (1922, reprinted 1975); Joseph Maréchal, Studies in the Psychology of the Mystics (1927; originally published in French, 2 vol., 1924–37); Albert Schweitzer, The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (1931, reissued 1968; originally published in German, 1930); Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion (1935; originally published in French, 1932); Rudolf Otto, Mysticism East and West: A Comparative Analysis of the Nature of Mysticism(1932, trans. by Bertha L. Bracey and Richenda C. Payne (1960, reissued 1987; originally published in German, 1926); Jacques Maritain, Distinguish to Unite: or, The Degrees of Knowledge (1959; originally published in French, 4th ed. , 1946). For recent issues, see Steven T. Katz (ed.), Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis (1978); and Phillip C. Almond, Mystical Experience and Religious Doctrine: An Investigation of the Study of Mysticism in World Religions (1982). The most important recent theological contributions have been those of Karl Rahner, The Practice of Faith: A Handbook of Contemporary Spirituality, ed. by Karl Lehmann and Albert Raffelt(1983, reprinted 1986; originally published in German, 1982); and Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics, trans. from German (1981– ).

Christian myth and legend

On the nature of myth, see , is one of the more important theological contributions of the late 20th century.

Myth and legend

The nature of myth is examined in Mircea Eliade, Myth and Reality, trans. by Willard R. Trask(1963, reprinted 19751998; originally published in French, 1963). William G. Doty, Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals (1986), analyzes a number of important approaches to the study of myth and, in addition, offers extensive bibliographies; and Robert A. Segal, Myth: A Very Short Introduction (2004). Resistance to myth and legend in early Christianity is described in Walter Bauer, Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity(1971, reprinted 1979; originally published in German, 1934). Mircea Eliade, A History of Religious Ideas, 3 vol. (1978–85; originally published in French, 3 vol., 1976–83), discusses Christian myth and legend in several chapters.On the androgyny of Christ, see Wayne A. Meeks, “The Image of the Androgyne: Some Uses of a Symbol in Earliest Christianity,” History of Religions, 13(3):165–208 (Feb. 1974); and Caroline Walker Bynum, Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (1982, reprinted 1984). Geo Widengren, Mesopotamian Elements in Manichaeism (King and Saviour II): Studies in Manichaean, Mandaean, and Syrian-Gnostic Religion (1946); and Robert Murray, Symbols of Church and Kingdom: A Study in Early Syriac Tradition (1975, reprinted 1977), discuss the origins of sacramental oils. Hugo Rahner, Greek Myths and Christian Mystery (1963, reissued 1971, ed. by Robert A. Kraft and Gerhard Krodel (1971, reissued 1996; originally published in German, 1945), traces the theme of the Christian World Tree.For apocryphal gospels, see 1934).

On the cult of saints, see Devotion to the saints is discussed in H. Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints: An Introduction to Hagiography, trans. by Donald Attwater (1907, reprinted 1974reissued 1998; originally published in French, 1905); Lawrence S. Cunningham, The Meaning of Saints (1980); Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity (1981, reissued 1983); and Donald Weinstein and Rudolph M. Bell, Saints & Society: The Two Worlds of Western Christendom, 1000–1700 (1982, reprinted 1986); and Stephen Wilson (ed. ), Saints and Their Cults: Studies in Religious Sociology, Folklore, and History (1983, reprinted 1985). See also John J. Delaney, Dictionary of Saints (1980); and David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 2nd ed. (1987), on Irish and English saints.Henry Kahane and Renée Kahane, The Krater and the Grail: Hermetic Sources of the Parzival (1965, reprinted 1984), analyzes Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival. For the Arthurian cycles, see Arthurian cycles are treated in P.B. Groutet al. (eds.), The Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages (1983); and Alfred Nutt, Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail: With Especial References to the Hypothesis of Its Celtic Origin (1888, reissued 1967).

Christian alchemy is described in C.G. Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, trans. R.F.C. Hull, 2nd ed. rev. (1968, reprinted 1980; originally published in German, 2nd rev. ed., 1952). Symbolic astronomy and the mutual refiguration of Christian and pagan legends are treated in a 15th-century text, Ioan P. Couliano (Culianu), Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, trans. from French (1987). On the alchemical Alchemical researches of Enlightenment scientists, especially physicists and chemists, see are examined in Frances A. Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment (1972, reissued 19862002); and Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs, The Foundations of Newton’s Alchemy: or, “The Hunting of the Greene Lyon” (1975, reprinted 1983).

Two examples of non-Western materials are Roger Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil: Toward a Sociology of the Interpenetration of Civilizations, trans. by Helen Sebba(1978; originally published in French, 1960), especially pp. 260–84 on Afro-Brazilian Christianity; and Marc de Civrieux, Watunna: An Orinoco Creation Cycle, trans. from Spanish (1980and ed. by David M. Guss (1980; originally published in Spanish, 1970).

The relationships of Christianity

The relation of the Christian community to the world is discussed in Ernst Troeltsch, The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches, trans. by Olive Wyon, 2 vol. (1931, reprinted 1981reissued 1992; originally published in German, 1912), is dated in specifics but is still one of the most comprehensive and influential studies of this topic; H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (1951, reprinted 1975); . Another important general work is Paul Tillich, Theology of Culture, ed. by Robert C. Kimball(1959, reprinted reissued 1978), essays on philosophy, art, literature, and science; and Peter L. Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (1967, reprinted 1969; U.K. title, The Social Reality of Religion, 1969, reissued 1973). Works on . Studies of various aspects of Christianity’s intersection with the world include, on pastoral care, William A. Clebsch and Charles R. Jaekle, Pastoral Care in Historical Perspective (1964, reissued 1983), including excerpts from primary sources in the history of the church; and Ronald L. Numbers and Darrel W. Amundsen (eds.), Caring and Curing: Health and Medicine in the Western Religious Traditions (1986), a unique and comprehensive presentation by scholars of various faith traditions, with bibliographies; on poverty, Michel Mollat (ed.), Études sur l’histoire de la pauvreté, 2 vol. (1974), a collection of essays on the history of the church’s understanding of poverty from the early church to the modern period—each essay with an English abstract; and Carter Lindberg, “Through a Glass Darkly: A History of the Church’s Vision of the Poor and Poverty, The Ecumenical Review, 33(1):37–52 (Jan. 1981); on birth control, John T. Noonan, Jr.,Contraception: A History of Its Treatment by the Catholic Theologians and Canonists, enlarged ed. (1986); on the concept of love, Anders Nygren, Agape and Eros, 2 vol. in 3 (1932–39, reissued 1982; originally published in Swedish, 2 vol., 1930–36); on black theology, Gayraud S. Wilmore and James H. Cone(eds.), Black Theology: A Documentary History, 1966–1979 (1979); and James H. Cone, For My People: Black Theology and the Black Church (1984); on liberation theology, Deane William Ferm, Third World Liberation Theologies: An Introductory Survey (1986, reissued 1990); and Leonardo Boff and Clodovis Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology (1987; originally published in Portuguese, 1986); and, on feminist theology, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology (1983); and Letty M. Russell (ed.), Feminist Interpretation of the Bible (1985).

Christian missions

David B. Barrett (ed.), World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions in the Modern World (1982), is comprehensive and indispensable. See also Stephen Neill, Gerald Anderson, and John Goodwin (eds.), Concise Dictionary of the Christian World Mission (1971); and Don M. McCurry, World Christianity (1979– ), with volumes on the Middle East, eastern Asia, South Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, and Oceania. , reissued 2002).

Christian missions

Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity, 7 vol. (1937–45, reprinted reissued 1971), is a pioneering classic. Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, 2nd ed. rev. by Owen Chadwick (1986), is a lively, engaging work. Walter M. Abbott (ed.), The Documents of Vatican II (1966), includes the relevant texts. Pope Paul VI, On Evangelization in the Modern World (1975), addresses post-Vatican II debates. R. Pierce Beaver (ed.), American Missions in Bicentennial Perspective (1977), is a collection of interpretive essays. Volumes in the series “Mission Trends,” ed. by Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky (1974– ), include discussions of current issues, evangelization, Third World theologies, North American and European liberation theologies, and Christianity and other religions. See also Marcello de Carvalho Azevedo, Inculturation and the Challenges of Modernity (1982). Useful journals include International Review of Mission (quarterly); and International Bulletin of Missionary Research (quarterly), which annually updates the statistics in the World Christian Encyclopedia.Andrew Walls, The Missionary Movement in Christian History (1996), is another useful study.

Ecumenism

Introductions to the topic are provided by Paul A. Crow, Jr.,Christian Unity: Matrix for Mission (1982); Norman Goodall, Thomas Fitzgerald, The Ecumenical Movement: What It Is and What It Does, 2nd ed. (1964); Ernst Lange, And Yet It Moves: Dream and Reality of the Ecumenical Movement, trans. from Swedish (1979); John T. McNeill, Unitive Protestantism: The Ecumenical Spirit and Its Persistent Expression, rev. ed. (1964); and Charles Clayton Morrison, The Unfinished Reformation (1953). Historical overviews can be found in Marc Boegner, The Long Road to Unity (1970; originally published in French, 1968); Robert McAfee Brown, The Ecumenical Revolution: An Interpretation of the Catholic-Protestant Dialogue, rev. and expanded ed. (1969); William Adams Brown, Toward a United Church: Three Decades of Ecumenical Christianity (1946); Samuel McCrea Cavert, The American Churches in the Ecumenical Movement, 1900–1968 (1968), and Church Cooperation and Unity in America: A Historical Review: 1900–1970 (1970); Harold E. Fey (ed.), The Ecumenical Advance, 2nd ed. (1986); Austin Flannery (ed.), Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Documents (1975, reissued 1984), and a companion volume, Vatican Council II: More Postconciliar Documents (1982); Norman Goodall, Ecumenical Progress: A Decade of Change in the Ecumenical Movement, 1961–71 (1972); William Richey Hogg, Ecumenical Foundations: A History of the International Missionary Council and Its Nineteenth Century Background (1952); Harding Meyer and Lukas Vischer (eds.), Growth in Agreement: Reports and Agreed Statements of Ecumenical Conversations on a World Level (1984); An Introductory History (2004); Jeffrey Gros, Eamon McManus, and Ann Riggs, Introduction to Ecumenism (1998); Constantin G. Patelos (ed.), The Orthodox Church in the Ecumenical Movement: Documents and Statements, 1902–1975 (1978); Ruth Rouseand Stephen Neill (eds.), A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1517–1948, 3rd ed. (1986); Barry Till, The Churches Search for Unity (1972); Thomas F. Torrance, “Ecumenism: A Reappraisal of Its Significance, Past, Present and Future,” in his Theology in Reconciliation: Essays Towards Evangelical and Catholic Unity in East and West (1975); Henry Pitney Van Dusen, One Great Ground of Hope: Christian Missions and Christian Unity (1961); Maurice Villain, Unity: A History and Some Reflections (1963; originally published in French, 3rd rev. and augmented ed., 1961); W.A. Visser ’t Hooft, Memoirs (1973), and The Genesis and Formation of the World Council of Churches (1982); and Hans-Ruedi Weber, Asia and the Ecumenical Movement, 1895–1961 (1966).

The Christian church and non-Christian religions:Christianity and world religions

The most comprehensive and up-to-date survey of Christian attitudes toward the world religions is Paul F. Knitter, No Other Name? (1985). A wide range of views is reflected represented in John Hick and Brian Hebblethwaite (eds.), Christianity and Other Religions: Selected Readings, rev. ed. (19802001); and Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky (eds.), Christ’s Lordship and Religious Pluralism (1981). The classic modern statement of a conservative position is that of Hendrick Kraemer, The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World, 3rd ed. (1956, reprinted reissued 1969). S.J. Samartha (ed.), Faith in the Midst of Faiths: Reflections on Dialogue in Community (1977), was produced by the World Council of Churches. Arnulf Camps, Partners in Dialogue: Christianity and Other World Religions (1983; originally published in Dutch, 3 vol., 1976–78); and Hans Künget al., Christianity and the World Religions: Paths of Dialogue with Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, trans. by Peter Heinegg(1986; originally published in German, 1984), represent different represents a contemporary Roman Catholic standpointsstandpoint. The pluralistic option is expressed in, for example, Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Towards a World Theology: Faith and the Comparative History of Religion (1981); John Hick, God Has Many Names (1982); and John Hick and Paul F. Knitter (eds.), The Myth of Christian Uniqueness: Toward a Pluralistic Theology of Religions (1987John Hick, A Christian Theology of Religions: The Rainbow of Faiths (1995).